Review: Tomoya Japanese Restaurant

by gigi on August 15, 2007

Derek, Peggy, and I went to Tomoya for sushi the other day. Located at 6285 Nelson Ave in Burnaby, it’s just around the corner from Lao Shan Dong beef noodle house and basically across the street from Metrotown. I had heard from a friend that this was pretty good so decided to give it a try.

Upon reading the menu at the restaurant, we found out that the chef was from New York and sought to bring an interesting spin to traditional Japanese food. We were intrigued by their special rolls, which were spins on regular rolls that you would find in most sushi places.

I have to admit that there is a gap of a few weeks between when we went to this restaurant and when I write this post so I can’t remember the names of all the rolls we tried though.

First off was the Flying Dragon roll. It is basically a dynamite roll with the added bonus of eel and both red and green tobiko on top. Let me just say now that the size of these rolls is bigger than most regular sushi rolls and you also get 8-10 pieces instead of the usual 5-6 pieces.

Then we had the Metro roll. It had tempura salmon, avocado, and crab inside. On top, there was sashimi salmon and tobiko. This roll was very crunchy, which was nice…but I found that the tempura salmon had more fried batter taste than salmon itself.

Then we had a sushi roll that had cooked shrimp and mango layered on top. I can’t remember what was inside the roll though. I was intrigued by the mango on top, but found the overall taste of this one pretty plain.

This next roll was my favourite of the four. Unfortunately, I can’t remember what it’s called! Inside, it was a regular California roll. But on top, there was chopped scallops, red & green tobiko, and green onions. It sounds like there is a lot going on, but the flavours all worked well with one another.

Overall, I think this is a great new addition to the regular sushi restaurants along Kingsway. Most places that I’ve been to that offer rolls like this are all on the west side of Vancouver. The servings were much bigger than I anticipated. The three of us ordered four rolls, but three rolls would have been more than enough. Each special roll costs around $7-9.

My biggest complaint about this place was that the tables weren’t wiped down very well, which resulted in an impression that the restaurant was a bit unkempt and sloppy.